Iran Responds to Imperialist Threats

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has been targeted by the western imperialist states for regime change. The People's Republic of China has rejected calls for new sanctions in the United Nations Security Council., a photo by Pan-African News Wire File Photos on Flickr.

Israel claims Iran able to target US by 2015

Wed Feb 22, 2012 6:59PM GMT
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Israel’s Finance Minister Yuval Steinitz claims Iran will be able to target the US by intercontinental missiles, which it aims to build by 2015.

"They are working now and investing a lot of billions of dollars in order to develop intercontinental ballistic missiles," he told CNBC.

"And we estimate that in two to three years they will have the first intercontinental ballistic missiles that can reach the east coast of America," Steinitz said.

"So their aim is to put a direct nuclear ballistic threat... to Europe and to the United States of America," former chairman of the Israeli parliament's foreign affairs and defense committee said.

Earlier this month, Israel's Deputy Prime Minister Moshe Ya'alon claimed Iran is developing a missile with a 10,000-kilometer range which is capable of reaching the US East Coast.

Tel Aviv has been trying to persuade the international community that the Islamic Republic, which is a member of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), is a threat even to the US and should be stopped.

This is while due to its policy of “nuclear ambiguity,” Israel does not allow any inspection of its nuclear program by international inspectors.

Israel, which is widely believed to possess over 200 atomic warheads as the only possessor of nukes in the Middle East, also refuses to join the IAEA and or to become a signatory to the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT).

The US, Israel and some of their allies accuse Tehran of pursuing military objectives in its nuclear program, using this pretext to impose sanctions against Iran and threaten the country with military attack.

However, the IAEA has never found any evidence indicating that Tehran's civilian nuclear program has been diverted towards nuclear weapons production.


Russia opposes unilateral anti-Iran sanctions

Wed Feb 22, 2012 11:31PM GMT
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Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Rybakov has voiced Moscow’s strong opposition to unilateral imposition of sanctions on Iran by the United States.

Rybakov reiterated Kremlin’s stance on such restrictions in a Wednesday meeting with the US Ambassador to Russia Michael McFaul.

The top Russian negotiator in the talks over Iran’s nuclear program expressed concerns over Washington’s persistence in slapping new sanctions against the Islamic Republic, given the complicated conditions surrounding the case.

Russia has opposed the US-spearheaded economic and political pressure against Tehran, saying it is impeding a negotiated solution to the West’s standoff with Iran and the country’s talks with the P5+1 (Britain, China, France, Russia and the US plus Germany).

Rybakov’s remarks echoed those made by Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, who criticized the European Union’s last month decision to impose a ban on Iranian oil exports to the bloc.

"Unilateral sanctions do not help matters," Lavrov said on January 23. "We will restrain everyone from making harsh moves. We will seek the resumption of negotiations."

He had earlier described the additional unilateral sanctions against the Islamic Republic as having “nothing to do with” a desire to ensure the nation's commitment to nuclear non-proliferation.

"It is seriously aimed at suffocating the Iranian economy and the well-being of its people, probably in the hope of inciting discontent," the Russian minister pointed out.

The United States, Israel and some of their allies accuse Tehran of pursuing military objectives in its nuclear program, using this pretext to impose sanctions on Iran and threaten the country with military attack.

Iran has refuted the allegations, arguing that as a committed signatory to the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty and member of the International Atomic Energy Agency, it has the right to use nuclear technology for peaceful use.

The IAEA has never found any evidence indicating that Tehran's civilian nuclear program has been diverted towards nuclear weapons production.


Iran, Russia slam intervention in Syria

Wed Feb 22, 2012 6:16PM GMT
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Iran and Russia have denounced foreign efforts to incite civil war and disintegrate Syria, saying they endanger the peace and security of the Middle East.

In a phone conversation with his Russian counterpart Dmitry Medvedev on Wednesday, Iran's President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said the solution to the crisis in Syria was the implementation of reforms by the people and without foreign intervention.

“Given their common views and positions, Iran and Russia must make more effort to help establish peace in the region and prevent foreign intervention,” Ahmadinejad said.

Medvedev, for his part, said certain trans-regional powers seek Syria’s disintegration which is a threat to Middle East security.

The Russian president added that Iran and Russia can cooperate to peacefully resolve the crisis in Syria.

Syria has been experiencing unrest since mid-March 2011. Hundreds of people, including Syrian security forces, have been killed in the turmoil.

The West and the Syrian opposition accuse the government of killing the protesters. Damascus, however, blames “outlaws, saboteurs and armed terrorist groups” for the unrest, insisting that it is being orchestrated from abroad.


Iran will never seek nuclear weapons: Leader

Wed Feb 22, 2012 12:2PM GMT

Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei addressed a meeting with head and officials of the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran (AEOI) and nuclear scientists in Tehran on February 22, 2011.

Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei says the Iranian nation has never sought and will never seek nuclear weapons as it has the capacity to challenge the nuclear-backed influence such powers rely on.

In a Wednesday meeting in Tehran with the director and officials of the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran (AEOI) and nuclear scientists the Leader described the country’s nuclear and technological achievements further in line with national interests and beneficial for the future of the country.

“The Iranian nation has never pursued and will never pursue nuclear weapons,” said Ayatollah Khamenei.

“There is no doubt that the decision makers in the countries opposing us know well that Iran is not after nuclear weapons because the Islamic Republic, logically, religiously and theoretically, considers the possession of nuclear weapons a grave sin and believes the proliferation of such weapons is senseless, destructive and dangerous.”

“If nations are allowed to independently make progress in the fields of nuclear energy, aerospace, science, technology and industry, there will be no room left for the tyrannical dominance of world powers,” said the Leader.

“Sanctions have been in place since the victory of the Islamic Revolution while the nuclear issue is a matter of the past few years; therefore their (the West) real problem is with a nation that has decided to be independent.”